The present invention relates to a ratchet wrench and, more particularly, to a reversible ratchet wrench.
A typical ratchet wrench is used for quickly turning an object, such as a rotary fastener. The ratchet wrench connects a socket and allows the socket to be turned without removing it from the fastener simply by cycling the handle backward and forward for repeatedly turning the fastener.
A ratchet wheel and a pawl of the ratchet wrench are repeatedly engaged and disengaged with each other for driving or non-driving the fastener. However, when the teeth of the ratchet wheel and the teeth of the pawl are not completely engaged with each other, and when the user immediately rotates the ratchet wrench in a driving direction and a non-driving direction, the teeth of the ratchet wheel and the pawl will be damaged easily. This is because the teeth of the ratchet wheel and the teeth of the pawl just engage each other in a small contact area, which is not enough to withstand a bigger torque load. If the teeth of the ratchet wheel and the pawl are small, they are more easily damaged because of a smaller contact area formed between the teeth of the ratchet wheel and the pawl.
Thus, a need exists for a novel ratchet wrench that mitigates and/or obviates the above disadvantages.